Saturday, July 22, 2017

A Baker’s Double Dozen of Neglected Russian Stories – No. 92

Paul
Goble

Staunton, July 22 -- The flood of news
stories from a country as large, diverse and strange as the Russian Federation
often appears to be is far too large for anyone to keep up with. But there
needs to be a way to mark those which can’t be discussed in detail but which
are too indicative of broader developments to ignore.

Consequently, Windows on Eurasia each week
presents a selection of these other and typically neglected stories at the end
of each week. This is the 92nd such compilation, and it is again a
double issue with 26 from Russia and 13 from Russia’s neighbors. Even then, it
is far from complete, but perhaps one or more of these stories will prove of
broader interest.

19.Opposition to ‘Russian
Nation’ Law Intensifies. Ever more residents of the Russian Federation are
expressing their opposition to the draft Russian law that defines ethnic
Russians as the state-forming nation, viewing this as an indication that in Russia
today, “all citizens are equal but some are more equal than others” (kavkazr.com/a/vse-grazhdane-rf-ravny-no-nekotorye-ravnee/28616231.html).

22.If You Look at
Russia from Alaska, What You’ll See Isn’t Pretty.Those who suggest that they can “see Russia” from
Alaska would be horrified if they actually could by the sad state of affairs in
the Chukotka peninsula with its dying cities and impoverished people. For an
amazing collection of photographs comparing Chukotka and Alaska, see newsland.com/community/7996/content/aliaska-i-chukotka-nagliadnoe-sravnenie/5921152).

31.Minsk
Refuses Moscow’s Request to Supply Peacekeepers for Syria.
Belarus, following two Central Asian countries, has turned down Russian
requests for troops to back up Moscow’s “peacekeeping” operations in Syria (belaruspartisan.org/politic/387937/).

32.Minsk Wants to
Exploit, Control Belarusian Diaspora. Minsk is reaching out to the four million
plus Belarusians living abroad in the hopes of using them to promote Minsk’s
policies but it is offending many by its heavy-handedness in dealing with them
(belsat.eu/ru/opinions/kakaya-diaspora-nuzhna-vlastyam/).

35.Armenian
Parliamentarians Reject Moscow’s Request to Make Russian State Language There.
Armenian deputies are outraged that Moscow would even consider requesting that
they make Russian a state language in their country (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/306276/).

36.Turkmenistan Blocks
All Social Networks.
Turkmenistan, the most closed-off post-Soviet state, has now blocked all social
networks, including Russian ones, on its territory (centrasia.ru/news.php?st=1500488880).

37.Turkmen TV Now
Features Live Readings of President’s Books. Turkmen television viewers are being
given a special “treat.” TV channels there are featuring live readings of the
entire works of the country’s president for life (currenttime.tv/a/28626950.html).

38.Tajikistan Wants
to Shift Outmigration from Russia to Arab World, Europe. Dushanbe, worried
about its dependence on remittances from Tajik gastabeiters in Russia, has
announced a program to promote those who want to work abroad to go to Arab
countries or Europe rather than Russia (migrant.ferghana.ru/newslaw/таджикистан-хочет-диверсифицировать.html).